


A Simple Hello

by Bandgeek18



Series: Speed Without Sound [1]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Barry is nervous, Before season 1, Deaf Wally, Wally is adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-08 18:15:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11087226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bandgeek18/pseuds/Bandgeek18
Summary: Barry is nervous to meet Iris' family for the first time. Especially her nephew. It doesn't help that Wally is deaf and Barry isn't sure how to communicate with him. Hopefully he can find a way for the kid to like him.





	A Simple Hello

Batman was more than surprised, not that he showed it, when Flash approached him after the League meeting. “I need your help,” the speedster said before Batman could open his mouth. 

“With what?” the other members of the League watched them; not so subtly eavesdropping on the conversation. 

“So, Iris has this nephew and I’m going to meet him next week.” 

“So?”

“Iris’ nephew, Wally, he’s deaf. I was wondering if you would teach me sign language.”

“How do you know if I know it?”

“You’re Batman.” That was true. 

“Can’t Iris teach you? Surely she should know at least basic signs."

“She’s really busy this week. She said that I didn’t need to worry about it, but I’m really nervous to meet this kid.”

“You?” Green Lantern asked. “Flash, people love you.” 

“I’ve never had experience with kids. I just really want this kid to like me and I thought if I could talk to him at least a little bit then maybe he’ll like me more.”

“I highly doubt the fate of yours and Iris’ relationship is hinging on her nephew liking you,” Superman said. 

“You don’t know that. What if her brother and sister-in-law hate me because I was rude to their deaf son? Then Iris will hate me because she loves Wally, and then she’ll leave me and I’ll be alone forever-“

“I’ll help you if you stop talking,” Batman said. 

“Really?!”

“Yes. Come to the Bat Cave tomorrow night and I’ll teach you basic signs you should know for meeting this kid.”

“Thanks Bats! You’re the best!” 

—A Simple Hello —

The following night, Flash ran into the Bat cave, stopping in the middle. “Whoops,” he said as the gust of wind knocked a couple of tools away from Batman, who as working on his utility belt. “My bad.” 

Batman turned around in his seat and leveled a bat glare at Flash. “Stop faster next time.”

“Right. Sorry. So, are we doing this?”

“Yes.” Batman took his cowl off. “Cowl off.” 

“Why?” Barry asked, pulling it off none the less. He sat down on the floor. 

“Part of sign language involves facial expressions. You need to be able to see someone’s face. Especially you.”

“Why especially me?”

“Your singing will be choppy and far from fluent. You can use your facial expressions to better tell Wally what it is you want to say.”

“Got it.” 

“First thing you need to know is your name. When you meet him you need to sign your name letter by letter.” Bruce held up his hand with his palm facing Barry. He crossed his thumb in front of his palm so that it was resting just below his pointer finger. “B.” He closed his hand into a first and placed his thumb against the outside of it. “A.” He moved his first two fingers back up and crossed his pointer in front of his middle finger and put his thumb on his other two fingers. “R.” He quickly moved his fingers down, then back up into the letter. “R.” He moved his three fingers down against his palm and held his pinkie and thumb out to the side. “Y.” 

Barry mimicked him. He frowned at his hand. “Like this?”

“Barry it’s the easiest sign in your name.”

“Right. Right. Ok.” He slowly moved through the signs with Bruce calling him out when his fingers weren’t quite in the right place. 

“Good. Now, your last name.” He did the first one. “A.” He moved his pointer finger up and put his thumb out to the side. “L.” He relaxed his fingers then did the sign again. “L.” He curved his fingers downward and rested his thumb under them. “E.” He moved his thumb so that it was under his first to fingers. “N.” 

Barry made the sign and nodded. “I think I got it.”

“Spell your whole name.” It took Barry roughly 30 mins to be able to spell out his whole name since he kept forgetting a sign here or there. 

“It got it!” he cheered once he’d done it and Bruce nodded at him. 

“That’s just your name. You need to know more than that.”

“What’s next?”

“I’ll show you basic signs that you should use. That’s tomorrow. I have to patrol.” Bruce pulled his cowl back on and put on his utility belt. 

“Ok,” Barry said standing. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Batman grunted. “Don’t make a mess next time.”

“I’ll try.”

— A Simple Hello — 

Barry was practicing his signs in the mirror later that week. He moved through them extra slow. Bruce had noticed that he moved through them too fast. His letters and words could blend together. Which meant Barry need to move his hands so much slower than his bran liked. Iris chuckled and wrapped her arms around him from behind. “Barry, I told you that you didn’t need to worry about it. Mary and Rudy are more than willing to translate.”

“I just….they’re your family, so I really want them to like me. Besides,” he turned around and wrapped his arms around Iris. “I’d really like to be able to actually talk to your nephew directly.”

Iris gave him a kiss. “Thank you. I know Wally is going to love you.”

“We’ll see.”

“Oh he will.” She gave him another kiss. “Trust me.” Barry contemplated her words all the way to Keystone. It did a lot to keep his mind busy doing the drive. Their drive to the Wests’ was only 45 minutes, but to Barry, it felt more like a couple of hours. Cars were always so slow. He couldn’t just tell them that he had super speed though, so he kept his brain busy while Iris drove. (When he drove he decided to break the speed limit a lot.) However, when they finally did pull up in front of the house Barry’s boredom was replaced with nervousness. Isis laughed and squeezed his hand. “Barry relax.”

“Sorry. I just really want your family to like me.”

“They’ll love you. Most people do.”

“Batman doesn’t.”

“From what you’ve told me Batman doesn’t like anyone.” That was true. “Besides, he has to like you a little bit if he’s been teaching you sign language.” Also true. “Come on, let’s not keep them waiting.” Barry got out of the car and followed Iris up to the house. She knocked on the door and it opened a second later. 

“Iris!” the woman inside said. She gave Iris a hug. “Come on in.” She stepped aside and let them into the tidy house. “Rudy! Your sister’s here!” 

A man came around the corner and smiled at Iris. “Iris,” he said, hugging her. 

“Hi Rudy,” she said. She reached back and grabbed Barry’s hand, bringing him forward. “Mary, Rudy, this is Barry Allen. Barry this is my brother Rudolph and his wife Mary.” 

“Nice to meet you,” Rudy said, shaking Barry’s hand. His grip was tight, but he had nothing on Superman. “You can call me Rudy.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Barry said. He shook Mary’s hand as well. “And you.” 

“Welcome Barry.”

“Where’s Wally?” Iris asked. 

“In there,” Rudy said, nodding his head back at the living room. He glanced at Barry. “Come on.” Iris and Barry followed Rudy and Mary into the living room. Sitting on the floor was a red haired boy who looked around 7. He was playing with two action figures where he sat. It was strange to Barry, who’d done the same thing in his own childhood, but the boy was silent as he moved them around. Mary crouched down side her son and put her hand on his back to get his attention. He looked up and she pointed at Iris and Barry. A grin broke out across Wally’s face and he ran to his aunt. She hugged him in greeting and kissed his head. Wally stepped back and looked at Barry curiously. He looked up at his dad and put his hand on his chin and scratched his chin, then pointed to Barry. 

‘WHO IS HE?’

Taking a brief moment to be satisfied with himself for recognizing the sign, Barry knelt down in front of Wally. The boy stepped back a couple of steps. Barry smiled and, slowly, signed his name. ‘B-A-R-R-Y-A-L-L-E-N.’ He pointed at Wally, then put out two fingers on each hand. He tapped the bottom fingers with his top ones. ‘YOU NAME.'

Wally’s mouth dropped open in shock. Clearly he hadn’t been expecting Barry to sign back to him. His shocked quickly morphed into glee as he quickly signed this own name. ‘W-A-L-L-Y.’ 

Barry held one of his hands with the palm facing up, then swiped his other hand across it. He then brought both hands up in front of his chest and, holding up one finger on each hand, brought them together and then pointed at Wally. ’NICE MEET YOU.’ 

Wally was practically bouncing on his heels. He pointed to his ear, then the corner if his mouth, then pointed at Barry. ‘DEAF YOU?’

Barry shook his head and opened his pointer and middle finger, then closed them on his thumb. ‘NO.’

This seemed to confuse Wally. He pointed at Barry then held up one of his hands with his palm facing up and placed his other fingers on it. He lifted his hand up, closing his fingers as he went and placed them on his forehead. He then raised a finger in each hand and turned them in circles, then brought one hand away, off to the side, and made a ‘Y’. ‘YOU LEARN SIGN WHY?’

Barry considered it for a moment, before raising a finger on each hand and brought them together, then pointed at Wally. ‘MEET YOU.’ He hadn’t thought Wally could smile any bigger, but he was wrong. The kid was bouncing with joy again. He ran back to his toys to grab them. 

“Iris, you never told us Barry knew ASL,” Mary said surprised. 

“He learned a little bit this week in preparation for meeting Wally,” Iris explained. She gave Barry’s shoulder a squeeze as Wally came back. 

Rudy nodded in approval. “That shows a lot of promise.”

Barry didn’t have time to ask what he meant before Wally was suddenly in his face, holding up to action figures. Once he realized what they were, Barry almost fainted from shock. One of them was the Flash. The other was Captain Cold. He glanced back at Iris, who gave him a sly smile. Oh. This is what she meant. Wally tapped Barry to get his attention. He placed his hand on his chest and pulled two fingers together and quickly spelled the name of Barry’s alter ego. ‘LIKE F-L-A-S-H.’ 

“He’s a fan of the Flash?” Barry asked, handing the action figures back to Wally. 

“Fan is a bit of an understatement,” Rudy chuckled as Wally tried to hand the Captain Cold figure back to Barry. “I think he wants you to play with him.” 

Barry looked down at the action figure, then at Wally’s pleading face. He smiled and held up the figure. Wally nodded and sat down on the floor. Barry sat down as well while Iris, Mary, and Rudy went into the kitchen. Iris briefly pat Barry on the head and ran her fingers through his hair as he passed. Barry smiled and watched as Wally moved his flash action figure around on the carpet in random patterns. Barry made his Captain Cold figure follow, but at a much slower pace. They did this for a few minutes. It was once again strange to Barry. The room was silent as Wally moved his figure around. Once in a while he’d run it into Barry’s figure. Luckily Barry knew to make sure his Captain Cold would fall over. At one point Wally made his Flash run into Barry’s Captain Cold, then made the Flash stand on him. Barry laughed. He looked at Wally but was momentarily taken aback by how radiantly the kid was beaming. It happened so fast Wally didn’t notice though. Wally set his Flash down and pointed at Barry. He then set his hand on chest, with his palm facing himself. He brought two fingers together, then spelled Flash again. ‘YOU LIKE F-L-A-S-H?’ 

Barry nodded and made an ’S’ and nodded his fist up and down. ‘YES.’

Wally spelled Flash again, then rested his finger tips on his shoulders, then brought them away into fists so he was making muscles. ‘F-L-A-S-H BRAVE.’ He must’ve realized Barry didn’t know what he said because he spelled it out for him. Barry nodded to show he understood. Pride built up in his chest. He spelled out Flash and did the sign that Wally had done before. Wally nodded and signed, ‘YES.’ 

Barry pointed at Wally, then at his head, then himself, then he put up a finger on each and moved them in circles, then put a hand up in front of his mouth, with his palm facing his lips, and brought it down onto his other hand. ‘YOU THINK I SIGN GOOD?’

Wally made a face and wobbled an open hand. ‘SO-SO.’ Barry nodded. That was fair enough. Wally pointed to Barry, then made a fist with both hands and tapped one off the other two times, then pointed his thumb and pointer finger out and wobbled his hand. ‘YOU WORK WHERE?’

Barry bit his lip. He put his knuckles together and rested his hands against his chest with his palms facing up, then rolled them forward. He pointed to Wally and pointed his pointer fingers up and moved them in a circle, then spelled out police. ‘HOW YOU SIGN P-O-L-I-C-E?’

Wally smiled, looking pretty pleased that Barry was asking for his help. He made a ‘C’ and tapped it on the right side of his chest twice. Barry copied him and Wally smiled and nodded. Wally pointed at him and made the police sign again. ‘YOU POLICE?’

Barry shook his head and spelled out his job. ‘C-S-I.’

Wally looked at him curiously. Barry had to admit, this kid had vibrant facial expressions. He held both hands up, out to the side, with the palms facing up; then spelled Barry’s job. 'WHAT C-S-I.’

Barry considered it. ‘HOW YOU SIGN S-C-I-E-N-T-I-S-T?’

Wally made the ‘A’ sign with his hands and tiled one down, almost like he was pouring something into a beaker, then he did it with the other hand, and then the first and again. He then held his hands with the palms facing each other. He moved his hands from shoulder height down. Barry copied him slowly and Wally nodded. ‘GOOD.’

Barry nodded. Ok. He could do this. ‘C-S-I.’ Wally nodded. ‘POLICE SCIENTIST.’ 

Wally looked at him with such admiration it made Barry slightly uncomfortable. ‘LIKE SCIENCE.’

‘YOU LIKE SCIENCE?’

‘YES.’ Mary walked in and Wally jumped to his feet. ‘B-A-R-R-Y LIKE SCIENCE. B-A-R-R-Y LIKE F-L-A-S-H.’

Mary smiled and crouched down in front of him. She did several signs and Wally nodded. He got up and left the room, heading down the hall. “Thank you for entertaining him,” Mary said as Barry stood up. 

“It’s fine. He’s a cute kid.” 

“He can be a handful. He’s too smart and curious for his own good.”

“Oh?”

“He gets into the chemicals under the sink or runs off into the woods behind the house. We just worry because he can’t hear us calling and if he needs help he can’t yell for us.” Barry nodded. That was completely understandable. “I’m glad you two get along. He doesn’t have any friends and he spends so much time alone.”

“Really?” He was such an open and nice kid. 

“Unfortunately most kids his age don’t understand sign language and would rather ignore him.” 

“I’m sorry.” Wally came running back in and grabbed Barry’s hand. He pulled Barry into the dining room where Iris was helping her brother set the table. She laughed when she saw her nephew and boyfriend. Wally sat down and pointed excitedly at the seat next to his. Mary brought the food out as Iris sat down on Barry’s other side. 

“Did you two have fun?” she asked him. 

“He’s a great Flash.”

She laughed. “Rudy and Mary were telling me he does really well in school.”

“Very smart,” Rudy confirmed. “He has to take some special classes, but the school provides him with an interpreter so he can be in a normal classroom most of the time.”

“He’s very good at science,” Mary said. “He loves to read science books.”

“And do experiments in our garage.”

“Perhaps he’d like to come to my lab sometime,” Barry volunteered. “He can do some basic experiments with me supervising him.”

“I think he’d like that,” Mary nodded. 

Rudy grunted. “As long as he stops making a mess in our garage.”

Barry glanced at Wally, who was eating, oblivious to the conversation around him. The adults kept talking as the meal progressed on. Once Wally finished he looked at his mom and signed something quickly. She signed back, then looked at Barry. “Wally wants you to see his room.” 

Iris laughed at the confused look on Barry’s face. She knew he had a heart of gold, but the poor guy didn’t have a lot of hands-on experience with children. It was endearing to see him so desperate to do it right, but so unsure of how to do it. Barry look down at Wally’s expectant face. He smile and nodded. Wally somehow got even more elated and grabbed his hand. Wally grabbed his hand and dragged him up the stairs. They stopped in a bedroom and Wally put out his arms as if he was saying “ta-da!” Barry almost started laughing in shock. There were science books stacked on a desk, but he could see more on bookcase. There was a science kit also on the desk, with an instruction manual propped up against a smaller stack of books. There was a flash blanket on the bed, which Barry loved. One shelf had an arrangement of science models, including a volcano. The ground as littered with Flash toys and other various toys. Wally tugged on Barry’s shirt to get his attention. 

‘YOU LIKE?’

Barry nodded. ‘I LIKE.’

Wally pulled him farther in and made him sit on the bed. He stood in front of Barry, just smiling. ‘YOU LIKE LEARN SIGN?’

Barry nodded. ‘YES.’ 

That seemed to make Wally even happier. ‘SAME.’ 

Barry wrapped his thumb around his chin and pulled his hand down while he stroked it, then pointed at Wally. ‘OLD YOU?’

Wally held up his hand facing Barry. He touched his thumb to his ring finger. ‘7.’ He dropped his hand and tilted his head to the side. He pointed to Barry, then did the sign for like, then made an ‘A’ and held it next to his cheek and twisted it a couple times, then spelled Iris’ name. ‘YOU LIKE AUNT I-R-I-S?’

Barry nodded and smiled. ‘LIKE I-R-I-S.’

Wally nodded. ‘GOOD.’

As if she could sense they’d been discussing her, Iris appeared in the doorway. “Time to go?” she asked Barry.

Barry checked his watch. Oh yes, definitely time to go. He stood up and took Wally’s hand. He led the boy back downstairs and knelt down in front of him. ‘NICE MEET YOU.’

‘NICE MEET YOU.’ Wally gave Barry a hug, much to the man’s surprise. Barry hugged him back. He stood up and Iris held her arms wide open. Wally hugged her too. He stood off to the side as the adults said bye. 

“Nice to meet you,” Rudy said to Barry. “You be good to my sister.”

“Of course,” Barry replied. 

“Thank you for the meal Mary,” Iris said, hugging her. 

“Anytime Iris. You and Barry will have to come again.”

“Keep cooking like that and we definitely will,” Barry assured her. 

Mary laughed. “Bye.” Wally waved as Barry and Iris let the house. 

“So?” Iris asked Barry as they got in the car. “It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“No, it was fun. Wally’s a great kid.”

“Isn’t he? I knew you two would get along great.”

“You forget to mention he was a fan of the Flash.”

Iris smiled slyly. “Who said I forgot?” 

Barry smiled and squeezed her shoulder. “Your family is great.”

“I’m glad you think so. Rudy and Mary definitely liked you.”

“Did they?”

“Oh yeah. They’re really impressed you took the time to communicate with Wally.”

“If he’s important to you he’s important to me.” 

“That’s why I love you.”

Barry smiled as he sat back and his mind wondered if he had anything to make a sandwich with at home. “I love you too.” 

“I think Wally should come to Central some time. He’d love the Flash museum.”

Barry grinned. “He’d love that.”

“Looks like we have a date then.”

**Author's Note:**

> The first thing I gotta say is I don't know sign language, so all the ASL in this story is from me researching online. If anything's egregiously wrong I apologize. Also if the grammar for the ASL is off I apologize. I'm trying to get the hang of it. (Unless it's when Barry's signing that's supposed to be bad because he's still learning.) Hope you all enjoyed the story.


End file.
